


Through time and Space our love remains.

by Malaise_Incarnate



Category: Dream SMP - Freeform - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Cuddling, Description of past death, Flashbacks, Good boyfriends Quackity and Sapnap, Head scratches, Hurt/Comfort, Karl Jacobs Gets a Hug, Karl Jacobs Needs a Hug, Karl Jacobs-centric, M/M, Memory Loss, Mild Self Harm, Multi, No Smut, Not based on the real people, Protective Alexis | Quackity, Quackity and Sapnap actually notice his declining mental state, Tales Of The SMP, The In-between, The InBetween - Freeform, This was beta'd we live like Billiam, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, woooo!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:40:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29487660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malaise_Incarnate/pseuds/Malaise_Incarnate
Summary: Karl forgets things.Its been more noticeable recently, but his lovers hadn't thought much of it.But after he has two panic attacks in one day for unknown reasons,andhe completely forgets that he's engaged...Well, Sapnap and Quackity sit him down for a talk.The truth is revealed and Cuddles + worried fiancés ensue.OrShameless Karlnapity Time travel reveal fic + angst <3
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 26
Kudos: 574





	Through time and Space our love remains.

**Author's Note:**

> I needed more Karlnapity content, that is my excuse for this.
> 
> ALSO, PLEASE HEAD THE TAGS! There are mentions of triggering things in here, so please don't read if you know it will negatively effect you.  
> Stay safe everyone, ily :)
> 
> P.s  
> This is about the _characters _in the Dream SMP roleplay, not the real content creators. This is in no way a genuine interpretation of the content creators, or meant to be a judgment of them -especially with the fact that this fic is shipping. Please do not send this to CCs or read this imagining it as their IRL personalities as that is incredibly WeirdChamp._  
>  While Quackity has said he is not comfortable with ship fics, that was in the context of reading ship fics on stream, in his "reading fanfic about me" video, not about the existence of them. If that changes, or he clarifies that he did mean the existence of them, please let me know in the comments!  
> Please let me know if any content creators express that they're uncomfortable with fanfic and it will be taken down._

Karl stumbled out of his library, hands still shaking from the horrors he had just been forced to write down. In the in-between place (he had to find out more about it), everything seemed to be calm, the castle put out waves of peace and relaxation, making it hard to feel anything but at ease and happy. Karl never had time to ponder his death, to clutch at his throat as it was sliced off, the white walls washing the fear and anger and hate away instantly.

But he couldn't stay in the in-between forever. Soon he found himself back in the normal world, where he collapsed, gasping for air and scrabbling at his neck and face, trying to reassure himself through pain that he was still there, and was still alive,  _ holy fuck. _

He knew from the instructions he had to write down what he remembered. Flashes of swords, screams, searing pain, reaching reaching reaching for someone -

Karl shook himself and took a few shuddering steps into the room, before collapsing on the floor by the nearest book and quill. With shaking hands he tried to write down what happened, distancing himself as much as he could as he wrote down the events, having to stop and breathe often. 

This entry ended up being a lot shorter than most of the others (at least he assumed so, he couldn't really remember), only a few sentences summarising the bare minimum of what happened to him, but it didn't matter. As long as the story was preserved, as long as the pages and the ink remembered, then he could too.

Karl staggered over to the exit, pushing a button and stumbling through, the bookshelf clicking back into place behind him. He wandered, not really focused on his surroundings. Almost everything reminded him of his death, of the life he had just loved and died in. He felt so, so alone, arms wrapped around himself and feet shuffling in the vague direction of home.

Karl found himself stopping and staring at the buildings, the creations people, currently alive and living people, had made. He wandered off path towards a poorly made cobblestone tower, staring up at it. Tommy. It was so obviously made by Tommy. He was the only one who would make such a... unique build with cobblestone. He wondered if the boy was doing okay, if he was still alive, was in exile or fighting a war or or or - when was he? Karl couldn't exactly remember, the knowledge slipping through his fingers like dry sand. He tried to gather what he did know.

The fight for independence -

_ (it was never meant to be) _ -

Schlatt and Pogtopia - 

_ (Then die like one!) - _

Tubbo banishing Tommy -

_ (Tubbo please!) - _

L'Manberg’s final destruction -

Doomsday -

Dream’s imprisonment.

_ You should've paid me more, Dream. _

…

That was it. That was everything major he remembered happening so far.

And yet Karl felt like there was something missing, something important.

He wracked his brain, desperately trying to remember, but the harder he tried the more it slipped through his grasp. He kicked the tower in frustration, yelling at the throbbing pain in his foot that the action caused. 

"Karl?" a voice called.

He turned around hesitantly, still wary of people after his recent death and the declining state of the SMP.

Two figures stood on the path.

"Are you okay honey?"

_ Honey. _ The one he recognised as Quackity had called him  _ honey. _ But why? Barely anyone noticed him, and when they did they were never kind about it. Why did they -

_ "Are you alright?" _

_ "I love you." _

_ "We were wondering."- _

_ "Will you date us?" _

Flashes of happiness.

Of candle-light.

Of hugs.

Promises.

Laughter.

Love.

Worry.

_ Fear _ .

The memories slammed back into him, and all of a sudden he  _ knew _ , he knew that the two people in front of him were, in fact, his boyfriends. Two people in this cruel world who actually cared about and loved him, and who he loved in return.

That wasn't good.

"H-how could I have forgotten about them?" he whispered under his breath, horrified. 

"What was that, doll?" Sapnap stepped towards him, holding his hands up placatingly when Karl flinched away from him violently, back slamming against the hard cobble tower behind him. He shivered at the cold of the wall, but kept his eyes firmly locked onto the two, breath stuttering as he glanced between them. Realistically he knew that they were dating, he knew they cared, he knew they (probably) wouldn't hurt him, that he shared too many happy memories with them for them to be  _ bad _ , but -

_ Screaming. _

_ Pain. _

_ Fear. _

\- his unwavering trust has led to his death before.

"Karl?"

The comforting voice was back, cutting through his panicked thoughts as easily as a knife through butter.

"Darling? Can you look at me please?" 

Karl hadn't realised that he'd shut his eyes, and quickly opened them, eyes flitting around his surroundings before finally settling on his partners once more. Sapnap was right in front of him, eyes full of concern, with Quackity standing behind him, a similar worried expression inked across his face.

"That's it, good job, thank you for listening to me doll." The praise made him feel inexplicably happy for some reason, and though he didn't say anything, Sapnap just gave him a soft, understanding smile. "Can I hold your hands? I promise I won't do anything else." 

Karl was silent as he thought it over. Sapnap was patient as he came to his conclusion, not pushing him. Finally, he nodded. He almost flinched again at the feeling of the warm hands in his own. They were calloused slightly, contrasting his own soft ones, but he didn't mind. He found himself relaxing as the other rubbed soothing circles into the back of his hands, lazily playing with Karl's fingers. The feeling of gentle attention coming from another human being grounded him. "That's it, good job."

They stayed like that for a while, Quackity on guard and Sapnap holding his hands, until finally, Karl felt calm enough to pipe up.

"Th-thank you."

"Always. Do you want to head home? It's going to get dark soon, and you probably need some time before you tell us about what happened."

Karl opened his mouth, about to spout reassurances, a faint pang of panic making itself known, but Sapnap held up his hand to interrupt him.

"Uh-uh, nope, you're not arguing with me on this. You  _ are _ going to tell us what's wrong Karl, because knowing you, you'll bottle up whatever’s bothering you and pretend like everything's alright, when it's not. It's not good for you to have to deal with things that upset you all by yourself. You deserve better than that."

Karl nodded silently in response, knowing that if he voiced his protest, then Sapnap would spend literal  _ hours _ breaking down exactly what he meant by  _ you deserve better than that, _ and to be honest, he really didn't have the mental energy to protest against that right now. Maybe he could be self-deprecating later.

"Now c'mon, let's head home so I can make you a hot chocolate. We’ll talk there, okay?" 

Sapnap gently gripped his hand in his own, walking along the path.

Quackity left his vigil, taking Karl's other hand and effectively sandwiching him between his two boyfriends. Quackity's wings were flared out behind him, in what Karl recognised as a protective gesture, challenging anyone and everyone to mess with his flock and see what would happen. The wings were a comforting presence as they pressed up against his back, feathers gently tickling his neck and making Karl let out a tired, barely audible giggle. Quackity smiled triumphantly, and Karl found the effort to be worth it.

They made it back to their house, thankfully without encountering anyone else, and as soon as they made it through the door, Karl locked eyes with the couch, beelining towards it and collapsing on top of it immediately. He let out a self satisfied sigh, hugging the pillow cushion beneath him, eyes sliding closed.

He heard a low chuckle and let out a petulant whine as a hand began shaking his shoulder, stuffing his face into the softness beneath him. The hand left him and he thought he was in the clear, his muscles relaxing. He was wrong. He let out a high pitched squeal at the sudden onslaught on his sides, thrashing to and fro, laughter spilling easily from his throat, mirrored by those above him.

The laughter, and the lack of air, though… They triggered something, made the laughter distort from well meaning to cynical, the lack of air conjuring a phantom hand on his throat, denying him the gas he needed to live. 

His shrieks turned fearful, his breaths coming short and ragged instead of merely out of breath. The hands froze their tickling when Karl let out a choked sob, curling in on himself as far as he could whilst desperately scrabbling at his throat.

"Karl!"

_ Broken trust. _

_ Fear. _

_ Blood. _

_ Can't breathe. _

_ Laughter. _

_ Someone help me please please please- _

"-arl?"

_ Pain. _

_ Death _ .

He lay there despondently, memories flashing through his mind of a life he had just lived and died, as a person he barely knew.

He remembered being betrayed by someone who he  _ kne _ w was a close friend - a childhood friend, if his memories were to be believed, and one who looked startlingly similar to Sapnap. His 'friend' had sat down with him in a deserted meeting room, under the pretense of talking, but it was a trap. Poor foolish not-Karl didn't see the obvious, and he was gifted a knife to his chest for his naivety. He had stared down at the wound, idly watching the blood soak and spread across his purple jumper. Karl had opened his mouth, but before he could speak up, a hand roughly gripped his throat, obviously trying to prevent him from vocalizing his fear and questions and begging. He did manage it though, to speak, even through the panic and fear he was experiencing, even through his desperate and unsuccessful attempts to pry the much larger man's hands off of his windpipe, despite all of that, not-Karl was able to utter a single word;  _ “why?” _

He was chaperoned into Death's now-familiar embrace by the sound of laughter; warm, amused laughter. His memories became muddled and faded not soon after, leaving Karl wondering why he woke up in such a calm peaceful place, panicked and scared. He remembered now, and he didn't know whether he was happy about it or not.

The laughter had stopped by the time Karl tuned back in to reality, but his breathing was still uneven, vision blurry with tears. He found himself still lying in the fetal position on the couch, but his hands were being gripped gently but firmly in Quackity’s hands. It felt nice, until he realised just why they were being held. He had been  _ scratching _ at his neck desperately. It was only now that he paid attention to it that he felt the dull throbbing coming from his the irritated skin - it was dull in the way where he knew it would be painful later, and Karl was  _ not _ looking forward to later. He couldn't see any blood on his nails though, so he supposed he would be fine.

For the third time that day, Karl found his hands being soothed and massaged by his boyfriends. He something... cold against his hand, and Karl looked down, startled. There, on Quackity’s finger, was a simple but beautiful silver ring.

His brain stuttered, trying to process what he was seeing - his eyes flicked over to Sapnap’s hand, being greeted by the same sight.

"Are - are we engaged?" he whispered quietly, practically under his breath.

But, apparently, not as quietly as he’d thought. Quackity’s eyes snapped up to meet his, gaze worried and slightly fearful.

"Karl, babe, are you okay? I- you've been forgetting a lot of things recently but I didn't think it was this bad. How did - how did you forget we were engaged?"

At that statement Karl felt Sapnap’s own worried gaze intensify.

"I, uh - well, um -"

"The next thing that comes out of your mouth better be the truth, Jacobs." Sapnap interrupted. "You just had a panic attack and hurt yourself over us tickling you,  _ tickling _ ." Karl winced slightly at that. "And I'm not saying your fear isn't valid, but we need to understand what triggered it, otherwise it's going to happen again." His tone turned gentle. "Please, Karl? You've been forgetting things, constantly on edge, not sleeping and now this. Please tell us what's going on,  _ mi amor." _ He was borrowing words from Quackity. That was how you could tell he was scared.

"I... fine," Karl muttered. "I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay? No matter what."

They exchanged glances before nodding.

"I uh.. I travel in time."

There was silence, and Karl was left waiting and watching his (newly remembered) fiances.

"What." Finally Sapnap's deadpan voice broke the quiet they had unintentionally built up. Quackity chuckled nervously. 

"Real funny Karl, but you know you can tell us the truth, right?"

"I'm not joking!" Karl cut him off. The others stared at him, shocked, as though he never raised his voice like this. Hopefully that would tell them he was serious.

"C'mon Hun, we just want to know what wrong, you don't need to deflect like this -"

"I'm not deflecting, it’s true!" Karl was beginning to get frustrated. Why weren't they listening to him?! Did he have a big sign on his face which screamed 'ignore me or pay me $50', or something?!

"...Babe, how much sleep did you get last night?" Sapnap asked gently.

"I'm not dreaming it up either! I, I  _ know _ it's real, it must be -"

"- maybe you should go lie down -"

"-  _ No! _ You asked me what was wrong, and I'm telling you, okay? Would you  _ please _ just listen to me! Don't you..." his voice trailed off, sounding shaky and fragile, as if if they answered wrong, his heart would shatter into millions of tiny pieces. "Don't you trust me?"

The silence returned, and with each moment that he went unanswered, Karl felt his heartbeat get louder in his ears, his heart sink lower into his chest, and his face flush pink with barely-held-back tears. 

"...Karl. Surely you can hear how absurd that sounds?"

Karl went to argue, but Sapnap held up his hand in a silencing motion.

"I'm not saying I don't trust you, because I do, I most certainly trust you, otherwise I never would've asked you to date us, but we're going to need something more than just a wild claim."

Karl looked confused, so Quackity filled in, "Clarify. Explain to us what you mean by  _ I can time travel, _ and how the hell it relates to your breakdown and lack of memory, and we promise we'll  _ try _ to keep an open mind."

It wasn't ideal, but it would do. Though Karl had patches in his memory, where he supposed dates and special moments with them were meant to be, he still knew that he loved the two men in front of him with all his heart, and that losing them over this would hurt him far more than he could imagine.

They ended up sitting at the kitchen table, mugs of tea (for Karl) and coffee (Sapnap and Quackity), clutched in their hands. Karl only occasionally sipped from the tea. If he was being honest, he'd only made it because the warmth radiating from the cup, and the familiar scent of herbs, was comforting to him; it helped to ground him and prevent him from spiraling again.

Karl began his explanation. 

He told them how he didn't know how or why, but at least once a month, most times even more often, he found himself being pulled into either the past or the future, at random. There was always a puzzle he had to solve, or an adventure he had to partake in, in order to gain understanding of the present timeline, and the world as a whole. (Karl shuddered at that, wondering what on earth he could gain from being brutally murdered, for nothing but entertainment, but continued on.)

"The adventures,” he found himself explaining, “They, uh, they don't always end... nicely."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, uh, most of the time I've been sent to learn about something dangerous, and the things, the people, I observe, don't like leaving... witnesses behind."

Quackity's face paled. "You mean -"

"Yes." Karl cut him off, not wanting to hear it aloud. "It’s... not pleasant, and, um, I mix things up when I come back and it makes me scared and upset and tired and it gets hard to breathe -"

"An anxiety attack."

"Yeah. That. If I remember something horrible that happened on my “adventures”, then all of a sudden it feels like I'm  _ there _ again."

Quackity reached across the table and gently gripped his hand, and they sat that way for a while, Quackity and Sapnap processing the new information they’d been given. Karl studied their faces for signs of disbelief, but it seemed like he’d given just enough detail for them to know that he was long past any chance of joking.

"There's something else you're not telling us." Sapnap observed.

Karl avoided his piercing gaze and tapped his foot nervously. No use in avoiding the accusation now, though.

"Everytime I travel, I... I forget, to put it simply. I don't know why it happens, but everytime I come back from the In-between I lose a piece of myself-"

"The where? The In-between?”

"I don't really know myself, I can't remember, but it's the place where I'm spat out once the adventure is done, or once I've - once I've died," he choked out. "It's a uh, a castle of sorts, pure white with halls you could go through for hours, exploring all the rooms - which is exactly what I do. There are books there, explanations telling me what the place is and why I'm there. Every time the same words on the pages.  _ Fear not, this is not a place to provoke harm, but a place to feel at ease. _ And then I wake up back here, usually at my library. Something about it takes my memories away. I don’t know why; maybe it’s the In-between that’s making me forget, maybe it’s the journey through time, maybe something’s getting lost when I’m outside of our dimension. The semantics don't matter though - what does is that I always end up back here, in our time, missing a piece of myself. I have to write down what happened in the adventure, writing it as a story, a tale for others to read and... heed warning to, I guess. I don't think it'll work, I still don't know if I'm supposed to use this knowledge to  _ prevent _ the disastrous events I witness, or if they're inevitable, and it's just so I can see, and observe, and collect. I - I hope for our sake it's the former."

Their expressions became more and more concerned the longer he talked, and Karl felt a lump in his throat.

"You don't believe me, don't you." He stated, sounding upset, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Karl began to fidget nervously as Quackity's hold on his hand became tighter.

"I do." Quackity looked a little sick as he spoke up. "I wish it wasn't true, but I believe you.”

Sapnap's eyes were distant. "This explains so much," he murmured. "You - you always seem to forget things. At first I thought it was normal, was just you being you, but- you've been forgetting things you shouldn't have, important things, like who Ranboo is, where we live, where our rooms are, heck, one time you even acted surprised when I mentioned we were dating to Tubbo!"

"...um, yeah, about that..."

"Oh, god, what now?" He sounded so worried that Karl would've found it comical in almost any other situation apart from this one.

"It's not that bad! It's just um, when I got back today, I  _ kind-of-forgot-we-were-engaged _ .. _? _ "

Sapnap put his head in his hands and muttered to himself. " _ Not that bad, _ he says, not-that-bad my  _ ass _ ." 

Sapnap continued muttering cynically to himself, and Karl looked at Quackity nervously. His fiancés eyes were full of sadness, and he gave Karl a small smile. Karl began to tap his foot again at that, unsure how to react to such kindness. He had half expected them to not believe him, or to straight up just dump him and kick him out - but instead they were actually listening, actually  _ cared _ . When he'd confessed, Karl had been running on adrenaline, but now all that courage had abandoned him, and Karl was left shaky and small and weak.

Quackity stood up and made his way to stand at Karl's side.

"C'mon my love, let's go to somewhere more comfortable, okay?" He slowly and carefully placed his hand on Karl’s arm, making sure he was in his view the whole time, before gently tugging. Karl got the message, standing on legs with the strength of a newborn calf. Once he was up, Quackity moved his arm so that they were now around Karl's shoulders, holding him gently but firmly, and began to maneuver them into the lounge.

When they were at the doorway, Quackity noticed the lack of a third pair of footsteps. Sapnap was still sitting at the table, head in his hands, worrying to himself.

"Sapnap," Quackity hissed, and their fiancé snapped back to attention. He took in Karl's expression and winced slightly.

He trailed after them, turning off the lights once the others were situated on the couch, Quackity having to manhandle Karl into the middle beside him. Sapnap hurried over, taking Karl's other side.

"Sorry," he apologized meekly.

"Hm, 's okay," Karl mumbled. "Not your fault. I dropped a lot of things on you, I even forgot we were engaged for Philza's sake. That's not reassuring to hear from your soon-to-be husband.. It is soon to be, right?"

"Yeah, it was supposed to be next week."

"Oh, that's a lot closer than I thought - but no, I meant, it's  _ still _ going to be  _ 'soon to be' _ ... Right?" Karl bit his lip and shrunk into the couch, staring between the two.

It was Quackity who processed the question first, and rushed to reassure his distraught lover. "Of course! Karl, we would never leave you over something like this, it's not your fault this is happening, and I'm just glad you actually told us what was going on!"

"Agreed, that must've taken a lot of courage to admit," Sapnap piped up. "You could have just said 'no' and walked away, but you didn't."

"B-but, but I still forgot we were  _ engaged! _ What if I forget after we're married, what if I forget the wedding?!" Mentioning the wedding seemed to relax something in Sapnap’s face, turning his expression wistfully excited, and he could tell Quackity felt the same by the way his wings fluttered behind him.

"Then we'll remind you," Quackity told him. "We'll video the wedding and take lots of photos for you - that way you can have something to remember the occasion by. It's not a long term solution - we need to get to the bottom of this, figure out why this is happening, and why to  _ you. _ "

"You don't have to do that -"

"No, we don’t have to. But we want to," Sapnap confirmed, voice leaving no room for argument.

He got up to grab the remote, and sat back down, pressing up into Karl's side. He turned on the TV, and then handed the remote to the time traveler. Karl put on a movie, a mindless rom-com like they’d always tease him for enjoying and yet always cry at the endings, and they all settled in for the night. Quackity had grabbed a blanket by the couch (one they had placed there for times such as this), and carefully draped it over his fiancés.

Karl let out a contented sigh and snuggled further into Quackity's side, feeling content and loved and at ease for the first time in… well, as long as he remembered, he supposed. With Sapnap leaned against him, and Karl found himself being squished, but in a nice sort of way. He felt like this was where he was meant to be; surrounded by his lovers, safe and warm. 

The movie droned on, but Karl found himself drifting off. He tried to fight the heavy, droopy feeling his eyes were getting, but when Sapnap started mindlessly scratching his scalp, and Quackity gently massaging his hand, Karl found himself dozing off almost instantly.

The In-between, his adventures, his memory loss? They were all questions to be solved another day. 

Right here, right now, was the only place in time and space that he needed to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Mmmmm, Karlnapity brainrot go brrrrrr  
> Thank you all for reading! <3
> 
> Come talk to me in the writers block discord https://discord.gg/w9CwSK26mm ! :)


End file.
